Mr Monk Meets His Match
by zzilly14
Summary: Monk has another crime to solve, which leads him to a possible romance. Chapter 2 up.
1. Chapter 1

_I didn't create the genius show that is Monk. Nor its characters. But I do own all other characters. So ha._  
  


**Mr. Monk Meets His Match  
Chapter 1  
**by Zzilly14

  
  
The first thing he noticed about her was her black-framed glasses. They sat crooked on the bridge of her nose, just asking him to correct them. He hesitated when he noticed she had mud on her clothes.  
  
Earlier that day, Adrian Monk and Sharona Fleming were asked to come to the scene of an apparent suicide. A 36-year-old white male named Fred Bradley had hung himself. A note was left by the tree where Fred had been hanging, pointing to a lack of foul play. But Mr. Monk had other ideas.  
  
"Captain, I don't think he killed himself."  
  
"And why's that?" he replied in an annoyed tone.  
  
"How did he do it? He's only five foot three, too short to reach the branch. And there's nothing around he stood on, is there?"  
  
The captain cleared his throat. "No, but we thought he just climbed the tree, tied the rope around his neck, and jumped off."  
  
Monk inspected the tree carefully, staring at the trunk before glancing up at the branch. "I don't think so. It rained yesterday, so there would've been mud prints on the tree if someone climbed it. And look at the shoe prints in the mud. They're too big to be the victim's. Somebody else was here."  
  
"Okay guys," Stottlemeyer yelled. "This is a crime scene now. Find out about this guy – his family, his friends, his coworkers, anything."  
  
This led to where the defective detective was now – the house of the victim's younger sister Rachel. Monk just kept staring at all the mud on her clothes, not saying a word.  
  
"Sorry about him," Sharona said. "He doesn't like mud."  
  
Rachel giggled. "Oh, this isn't mud! It's paint. I've been working on my dining room." She sighed as she moved some stray strands of dark hair away from her face. "I'm guessing you're here about Freddy. The police already came by, so..."  
  
"But we're not the police," Monk finally spoke. "My name's Adrian Monk." Surprisingly, he held out his hand to her. She looked it at briefly before taking it.  
  
"I've heard about you. I thought you didn't like shaking hands."  
  
"I don't. Sharona? Wipe please?"  
  
The nurse grabbed the pack from her purse and pulled out a wipe. Monk snatched it and cleaned his hands off quickly.  
  
"Sharona Fleming. His assistant," she said as she shook Rachel's hand.  
  
"Please, come in," she offered.  
  
The paint-covered woman led them to the living room. Monk and Sharona sat on the olive green couch while Rachel took a seat in her recliner.  
  
"What do you need to know?"  
  
Monk cleared his throat. "Your brother lived with you, right?"  
  
"Yeah. It was only temporary though. His wife kicked him out and he had nowhere to stay. So, I let him stay with me until he got his own place."  
  
"How long did he live here?"  
  
"About three months," she replied as she took off her glasses and cleaned the lenses with a cloth.  
  
"Do you know of anyone who'd want your brother killed?"  
  
She shook her head. "No way. Everyone loved him. I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt him – he's the sweetest guy on earth."  
  
"What about his wife?"  
  
"Betty? I think she's on vacation this week. And as much as she despised him, she'd never kill him."  
  
Monk cleared his throat. "May I ask why they separated?"  
  
Rachel sighed as she put her glasses back on. "She cheated on him. With a woman, no less. And she had the nerve to kick him out. I mean, seriously!"  
  
"That's... disturbing," he noted.  
  
"Which part?"  
  
He pointed to the wall behind her. "The picture. It's crooked. How do you live with that?"  
  
Sharona glared at her boss, but Rachel started to laugh hysterically.  
  
"Mr. Monk, you sure notice a lot! Do you want me to fix it for you?"  
  
"Yes, thank you. I appreciate it."  
  
She smiled before getting out of the chair and adjusting the family photo that hung on the wall. Afterwards she stared at it sadly, not saying a word.  
  
"Are you okay?" Sharona wondered with concern.  
  
Rachel turned, revealing tears in her eyes. "Yeah, I'll be okay. It's just, there were five of us in my family. My parents, Freddy, me, and our older sis Kate. But now, it's just me." She started to sob uncontrollably.  
  
Sharona stood and hugged the upset woman. "I'm sorry. It must be hard. But you'll get through this."  
  
Monk thought for a moment. "Miss Bradley?"  
  
"Yes?" She wiped some of her tears.  
  
"What happened to the rest of your family?"  
  
She swallowed with difficulty. "Mom and Dad died in a car crash five years ago. Thanks to a stupid drunk driver," she spat bitterly.  
  
"And your sister?"  
  
"Disappeared. No one's heard from her in months. It makes me wonder what's going happen to me."  
  
"Nothing's gonna happen to you, Rachel," Sharona assured. "Adrian will make sure of it."  
  
"Excuse me?" he asked nervously.  
  
"We need to make sure she's safe. And she shouldn't be alone at a time like this."  
  
"I'm not moving in with her. I can't live with people."  
  
Sharona chuckled. "No, Adrian. You should spend time with her when she goes out in public."  
  
Rachel spoke softly. "I'd like that. It'd make me feel better."  
  
"Well... I don't know..."  
  
"Adrian..." his assistant prodded in an annoyed voice.  
  
He nodded as he stared at the floor. "Okay... I'll do it." He looked up at Rachel and saw that she was smiling at him. What was he getting himself into?  



	2. Chapter 2

_Andy Breckman is the genius behind Monk, not me._

**Mr. Monk Meets His Match  
Chapter 2  
**by Zzilly14

The following day, Adrian Monk found Rachel Bradley sitting on a bench in a small park, staring sadly at the very dirty sidewalk. They were not far from where her brother Fred was murdered.

"We can go somewhere else," Monk said with concern.

Rachel looked up and gave him a small smile, her brown hair blowing lightly in the breeze. "It's okay, Mr. Monk. I think I need to see where it happened. For closure, you know?"

He nodded as she stood up. He didn't want to admit how much he liked her beige satin blouse. It reminded him of Trudy...

"You've lost someone too," Rachel realized as she stared into his eyes.

"My wife was murdered eight years ago," he sighed.

She paused while her eyes found his left hand. "And you still wear your wedding ring?"

Monk stared at it. "I haven't found closure yet. Her case is still unsolved."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Monk," she replied as they headed towards the crime scene.

...

Rachel stared hard at the tree for a few moments, where her brother's body had hung from. It was hard to believe Freddy had died right there, just a few feet away from her.

"Miss Bradley?" Monk said from behind.

"Mr. Monk, can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

She turned around, revealing that her usually-warm-and-friendly nature had become cold and almost vicious. "Find the asshole who did this to Freddy and make sure he pays for what he did."

Monk looked into her deep blue eyes and nodded. "I promise you, Miss Bradley, that I will solve this case," he assured.

Rachel nodded in return and started to walk away angrily, but Monk grabbed her arm.

"What?" she snapped.

"Wait here," he said. The detective started surveying the scene, lifting his hands toward the tree branch. He then looked at the base of the tree where the note had been, and suddenly pulled out a wipe from his pocket. He then bent down to pick something nestled deep in the grass.

"What is it?"

He went back over to Rachel and displayed the object he was holding.

"Oh my gosh," she said, her eyes widening. "That was Kate's!"

"Are you sure?"

Rachel nodded confidently. "When I was seven, I gave her that locket for her high school graduation, and she wore it ever since," she replied. "It was custom-made, Mr. Monk. There's an engraving on the back."

"_To Katey Bear, 1982_. 'Katey Bear'?"

"It was my nickname for her when I was a kid. Oh my gosh, what if Freddy found her?"

Monk stared at the golden locket. "Maybe he almost found her," he stated.

"What do you mean?" Rachel wondered.

The detective paused before saying, "I think your sister was kidnapped."

...

"Kidnapped?" the Captain asked as he examined the locket. "What makes you say that?"

Monk and Rachel were at the police station to share their findings with Stottlemeyer and Disher.

"Miss Bradley told me that her older sister Kate Jenkins has been missing since the middle of May, and I believe that the victim, her brother, was trying to get her back. Maybe he didn't pay the ransom, or maybe he found her and was trying to rescue her... whatever the case, the kidnappers weren't happy and murdered him."

"But I don't understand why someone would want to kidnap Kate. She doesn't have a lot of money."

"Maybe she knew something... what was her occupation?"

"She worked at a school library," she shrugged.

"Hmm..." Monk pondered. "She was married, right? Where's her husband?"

"He got lung cancer and passed away... about three years ago."

Stottlemeyer added, "If she was kidnapped, wouldn't the kidnappers have bragged about it, asking for ransom months ago?"

"Maybe they only told Fred about it," Disher thought.

"But it doesn't make sense," Rachel stated angrily. "If Kate was kidnapped, why wouldn't Freddy tell me about it? And there's no reason that anyone would want to kidnap her. I'm sorry Mr. Monk, but I don't think your theory works."

"Then how did Fred Bradley get in possession of your sister's locket?"

The room became silent as everyone considered different theories.

...

"Autopsy came back," Randy Disher said a few hours later, with file in hand. "It's been confirmed that Mr. Bradley was already dead before being hung."

"How did he die?" Rachel demanded.

"Rat poison," Disher stated.

"How about the suicide note, whose handwriting was it?" Stottlemeyer asked.

"Fred Bradley's."

"Were there any fingerprints on the note?" Monk questioned.

"Nope, it's clean, except for the victim's prints."

"Damn!" the captain yelled. "Everything points to suicide, except for the fact that he was dead before he hung on that tree. We got a locket of the missing sister at the crime scene, and no suspects whatsoever. We've got no leads. Monk, do you have anything? Anything at all?"

The detective looked like he was about to speak, but then stopped. He shook his head. "Not at the present moment, Captain," he answered sadly. 


End file.
